~Alex Prager Directs- Los Angeles-based photographer Alex Prager has directed Despair, a vibrant and surreal four-minute short film starring Bryce Dallas Howard (doll-like daughter of Opie Cunningham, nee Ron Howard). Inspired by the classic suspense film, Night of the Hunter (1955), and the 1948 ballet The Red Shoes, Despair is set in LA in the 1960s and "was conceived as a living, full-sensory version of her photographic work." Prager states, "I'd like to show the before, now and after of one of my images--that's really the concept of the film." Directing films seems like a natural step for Prager since her photographs tend to be cinematic, dramatic, and bursting with color. A still taken from Despair has been selected for MoMA's New Photography 2010 group exhibition opening on September 29th. Learn more and watch Despair at Nowness.com. Click here for my post on Prager's terrific show Week-End that was at Yancey Richardson early this year.
~Ryan McGinley Directs Again- Another photographer who has dabbled in short film is Ryan McGinley. His latest, Entrance Romance (it felt like a kiss) stars an amorous dog, some unlucky goldfish, and model and very good sport, Carolyn Murphy. Again, you can watch the film at Nowness.com.
~Scott Campbell Collaborates on New "It" Bag- Tattoo artist and fine artist, Scott Campbell, has teamed up with one of his A-List tat clients, Marc Jacobs, the Creative Director for Louis Vuitton, to help design bags for the brand's Spring 2011 menswear collection shown in Paris yesterday. Read more about the collab at elle.com and check out the Vuitton collection at style.com. Several of the boys were sporting skin-art on the runway and a couple of the bags towards the end were embossed with Campbell-like art. Click here for my post on Campbell's first NYC gallery show, If You Don't Belong, Don't Be Long.
~The Hole Opens- Former Directors for Deitch Projects, Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman are opening a new gallery called The Hole at 104 Greene Street in Soho. Officially opening on June 26th, the gallery space will also house a retail shop - Holey Books, a cafe, and an artists' dating service called Hole Lotta Love. Until The Hole's official opening, they currently have on exhibit Not Quite Open for Business, a show featuring unfinished art, poems and symphonies created by 20 artists. Sounds like The Hole will be a fun place and a welcome addition to the Soho galleries. Learn more at flavorwire.com.
~Shoot the Piano Player- British artist Luke Jerram has teamed up with Sing for Hope to install 60 pianos in parks and public spaces all around the city in all five boroughs from June 21 to July 5th. The installation titled Play Me, I'm Yours, started in Birmingham, England in 2008 and has traveled to cities around the world. According to Jerram, the project aims to "provoke people into engaging, activating and claiming ownership of their urban landscape", and encourages Liberace wannabes to tickle the ivories and post pictures of themselves with the pianos at nycstreetpianos.com (where you can also find more info on Jerram, Play Me, I'm Yours, and piano locations).
~A Bell For Every Minute- A shitload of angels are going to be getting their wings thanks to artist Stephen Vitiello's A Bell For Every Minute, a Creative Time sponsored, site-specific work created for the High Line. The multi-channel sound installation takes place on the High Line in a "semi-enclosed tunnel between West 13th and 14th Streets, with sound recordings of bells taken from all over New York City and beyond" going off every minute and a "chorus of the selected bells" chiming every hour on the hour. A map is available to help visitors identify the original location of each bell. Learn more at creativetime.org. Throughout the summer.
~Last Chance for Key to the City- This weekend is your
last chance to pick up a Key to the City and explore and
unlock 20 "secret" and unusual sights throughout the five boroughs.
Sponsored by Creative Time, the project is the brainchild of artist Paul
Ramirez Jonas. I really wanted to check out this project but June really flew by quickly and the temperatures have become uncharacteristically hot for this time of year and I've been characteristically lazy for any time of year. If you're willing to brave the heat and humidity this weekend, pick up one of the 25,000 keys at the kiosk in Times Square by Sunday. Learn more and see some of the things you can check out with a key at flavorwire.com. Check out creativetime.org for more info. Keys available at Times Square through June 27th (though the locks will be available through Labor Day).
~Northside Festival- The great, free weekly L Magazine has organized a festival in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that's so huge it needs 4 days to fit in all the events including more than 250 bands playing at over 40 neighboring venues, 25 gallery shows, and 9 film screenings. Among the bands playing are the hipsterific Les Savy Fav and Liars. Learn more at northsidefestival.com. June 24th through 27th.
~Inez and Vinoodh Celebrate Silver Anniversary- Dutch photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin are celebrating their prolific 25-year career with a retrospective called Pretty Much Everything at the Foam Museum in Amsterdam. The exhibit showcases 300 of the pair's innovative and sleek images taken between 1985-2010 and will be followed up next year with a book published by Taschen featuring over 600 of their photographs and an original piece written by author A.M. Homes. Learn more and read a brief interview with van Lamsweerde at wwd.com. Pretty Much Everything is on view through September 15th. See my post on Inez and Vinoodh's Sculptographs show at Andrea Rosen this past April here.
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